When it comes to collecting autographs of well-known celebrities, personalities, and people, collectors have the tendency to use actual sports items used by the person. Sports items such as baseballs are used for baseball players, footballs for football players, sports uniform jerseys for athletes, and the like. The problem encountered by this practice is the fact that the items may be cumbersome, or the person may not have one readily available to be autographed. One example would be having a basketball available for a basketball player to autograph. Individuals may use items such as napkins, scrap pieces of paper, menus or other random items to get autographs. After these items are signed, the majority of them end up being damaged, discarded or put away in a place they cannot be readily displayed and appreciated.
Additional problems faced by people seeking autographs of famous or notable individuals is that they try to have items related to the individual, such as a baseball card with the player's image on it, a picture of the person, or an item related to the signatory, such as a program.
The overall problem faced by individuals who are able to obtain autographs, on random items, is their items are diminished in their collectable values compared to what they might be able to get for autographed sports items for athletes. The item signed can also possibly be easily misplaced, or lost, and not be retained by the collector.